TOMBUCTOO— HOUSSA*— GOTTO« 385 
frayed by a tax on merchandise. Houssa, the 
capital of a powerful kingdom which lies to the 
eastward, is also a great mart of Moorish com- 
merce, more extensive and populous than Tom- 
buctoo, which it resembles in government and 
police, as well as in trade. At Houssa, the ne- 
groes are more numerous than at Tombuctoo, and 
possess a share in the government. The Niger 
passes to the south of Houssa, at the distance of 
two days' journey ; but its farther course is un- 
known, and the traders who arrive at Tombuc- 
too and Houssa, from the east, are ignorant of its 
termination, and only declare, in general terms, 
that it runs towards the rising sun, to the end of 
the "world. At Jenne, a language entirely diffe- 
rent from that of Bambarra, termed by the ne- 
groes Jenne Kummo^ and by the Moors Kalam 
Soudan^ begins to be spoken ; but the merchants 
of the east use languages which are quite un- 
known. At Silla, Mr Park saw quivers and ar- 
rows of curious workmanship, which had come 
from Cassina. On the south of Ginbala lies the 
extensive negro kingdom of Gotto, the capital of 
which is named Moosee, after a chief who had 
the address to unite the petty states into which 
the country was formerly subdivided, in a con- 
federacy against Bambarra. Being appointed 
general, he embarked a fleet of canoes on the 
lake Dibbie, and, sailing up the Niger, took Jen- 
VOL. I. B b 
